The Cabinet Office wants to see more
nominations for women like Dame Kelly Holmes
Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/Getty
We've had Blair's babes in the House of Commons, David Cameron's attempts to make the Conservative party more attractive with an appeal for more female MPs, and then, of course there were David Davis's spectacularly ill-advised double-D T-shirts.
Now, it seems, another male bastion is attempting to get with the times by reaching out to women. The Cabinet Office today launched a campaign designed to get more women nominated for the twice-yearly honours lists.
The campaign - entitled, by some stroke of sub-Guy Ritchean genius, "Do The Honours" - aims to give a fairer representation to women, who made up only 37% of the 2006 new year's list. Anyone can nominate or nominated, say the sponsers of the campaign:
So if you know a woman who has made a significant difference in her field of work or community - or who has achieved great things against all the odds - then take the time to say thanks for what she has done and "Do The Honours".
Now, some of you might be thinking, surely the honours system ought to be consigned to the scrap heap, rather than expanded? Nobody cares who wins what anyway, and the whole thing is a swindle to make sure the great and the good of the government get their just rewards for years of bankrolling whatever political party happens to be in power. Or perhaps you think it's a load of old colonial nonsense, built around the idea of an empire that hasn't existed for half a century. Or maybe it is simply there for the amusement of the royal family?
The cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, naturally thinks otherwise. At the launch of the campaign, he said: "Honours are there to recognise the achievements of ordinary people who do extraordinary things. It is absolutely crucial that the honours system rewards those who really deserve it.
We would also like to see more successful nominations for women in what have sometimes been considered non-female areas: such as the economy, science and sport.
This is why we are launching a campaign to get more women nominated. We want the honours list to be a true reflection of the population and to reward those women who go on year after year making a difference to people's lives.
A fine sentiment, no doubt, but isn't it all a little too reminiscent of those stories about women being allowed to become members of some fusty old gentleman's dining club that pop up in the press from time to time? Is the cause of equality truly served by amending the honours list, or should we do away with the whole old-fashioned ritual? If you do think it should be kept, then who should be the first on the list?
* Nomination forms and guidance notes can be found at honours.gov.uk. Each nomination must be backed by two "good" letters of support as well as solid facts and figures.
